


The Sinner and the King

by Resa_Saso



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Because instead, It's Rise of the Cybermen without Cybermen, M/M, There are Time Lords, series 2 au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-13 03:04:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12974460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resa_Saso/pseuds/Resa_Saso
Summary: The Doctor, Rose and Mickey end up in a parallel version of London and even though it's scary, dark and dangerous, the Doctor can't help but being happy the second he lays eyes on this universe's Master. It's wrong and it's twisted, but it's his chance of a new start with an old friend. There is, however, still that little problem of a destructive, evil Time Lord race to consider.





	1. Chapter 1

Mickey’s words were ringing in the Doctor’s ears, even after some hours of walking through a wrong London aimlessly.  
  
_“It’s parallel right? An alternative to our world, where everything’s the same, but a little bit different.”_  
  
Mickey’s words were still ringing in his ears when they found him. A ship bigger on the inside, but not a TARDIS, not alive, because no living, sweet-tempered ship would ever support their cruel aims.  
  
Mickey’s words were still ringing in his ears after they had killed the boy in front of his eyes, for no reason other than demonstrating their ultimate power.  
  
The Doctor however, saw it for what it really was. “Do as you’re told,” it said. “We don’t hesitate to be the brutal monsters we are supposed to detain.”  
  
He was scared.   
  
It was a feeling he had lost over the last centuries, had lost in the aftermath of his guilt, his pain, all the suffering that had made him wish for death more times than he could count. But now, here, in this universe, face to face with a race he had destroyed in another, all he could do was silently hold back sobs of fear and sorrow.  
  
It wasn’t that he wouldn’t accept his death, oh, and how he would. He often felt like he had lived too long, had made decisions that had been so wrong, so deadly for too many. But right now, he couldn’t afford to die, couldn’t afford to give up. A whole universe was hanging by a thread, these people – his people, except they weren’t - threatening to destroy it, Rose still in their clutches, shaking and crying uncontrolled. He had to do something, had to think of something, had to help her and all those people who belonged into this dimension.  
  
He was the only one who could stop them, wasn’t he? He had been at this point once before. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to do it again.   
  
“Now Timelord,” their leader began. Rassilon, the Doctor thought. This was this universe’s Rassilon in a regeneration he hadn’t seen before. “Speak up. What is your name and why aren’t you part of our holy mission?”  
  
The Doctor swallowed.  
  
He knew the second he looked into Rassilon’s stormy grey eyes he would have to say the truth. This man would sense it if he lied just as his universe’s Rassilon would have back in the days.  
  
He took a deep breath, then started, desperate to tell as little as possible without lying to them.   
  
“My name’s the Doctor,” he explained hoarsely. “And I didn’t know of your mission, Lord President.”  
  
With a nod, Rassilon dismissed some by standing Time Lords, no doubt to check their records for his name. Well, the Doctor wondered what they would come up with. Was there a Doctor in this dimension? And if yes, what was his place in all of this?  
  
He looked up to watch Rassilon, but soon noticed intense and dark eyes on him from his right. Supressing a shiver, the Doctor stared back.  
  
He had never seen this man in his life before, but there was some kind of connection between them, a spark of recognition dancing around them and the Doctor knew in an instant, he felt it, too. His eyes were completely focussed on him, he didn’t even look away once. He was desperately trying to figure it out, figuring out who this person was in his universe, why he was getting these intense feelings from him, crawling underneath his skin like worms.  
  
It was then, the Time Lords returned.   
  
“No Doctor in any of the records, Lord President,” they told him with a long, deep bow. “He doesn’t exist.”  
  
Rassilon’s smile was cold when he turned back to the Doctor.   
  
“So you lied to us.”  
  
“No,” the Doctor shook his head seriously. “No, I really didn’t. I’m the Doctor, I’m a Time Lord, but not from this universe.”  
  
“Liar!” Rassilon called out and his rage seemed to make the walls shake. “The doors are closed, they closed a long time ago! There is no way left to cross the limits of our dimensions, believe me, I’ve tried.”  
  
“Oh, I believe you,” the Doctor gave back earnestly.  
  
And he did. That was just like Rassilon, just like all the things the power hungry president was planning during the Time War. Conquering the universes, not only their own, but also every other existing, he wouldn’t have stopped, hadn’t the Doctor himself put a stop to it.  
  
And now, here he was again, facing the same old terror. More and more, it felt like his terrible actions to end the Time War, all the guilt and pain he had put upon himself, had been for nothing. The Daleks had come back, and now, so had the Time Lords, deadlier and more dangerous than ever but this time he had no allies amongst them, no one to help him out.  
  
At least that was what he thought, before he saw the strange man with the brown, neat hair and the goatee wink with the corner of his eye.  
  
Okay, well, maybe one ally then. He could work with one ally, that was usually all he ever worked with. And Rose was still down there in her cell, too, so that made two allies, one of them Time Lord. He could do this, right?  
  
With new hope, he raised his head.   
  
“It was an accident,” he explained calmly. “I can’t tell you how it happened, because I don’t know, but I can imagine my TARDIS trying to dock with a ship of Time Lords the second she sensed it. All I know is, we got sucked through and my ship lost its power. It’s not able to take anyone back to my dimension,” he added, before Rassilon could even ask.   
  
He knew he’d ask.  
  
He tried not to look to the man to his right.  
  
“What do you think, Master?”  
  
Okay, he was going to look up to the man to his right.  
  
With a sharp jolt, the Doctor’s head flew up, watching the man Rassilon had turned to with widened eyes.  
  
The Master.  
  
Of course. This was another universe, another Time Lord race and the Master was still alive in this one. Standing in front of him, a thoughtful smirk on his face, which the Doctor nearly didn’t notice, because, oh, he was still staring at him, eyes not wavering one second, he didn’t even blink. He seemed to talk to him without any words at all, told him silently, that he was on his side.  
  
There was no Doctor, he thought. In this universe, he didn’t exist, he never had. There was no Doctor who belonged to this Master, and yet, here he stood, in front of him, recognition in his sharp, intense eyes.  
  
The Doctor had stopped being afraid the second he had heard his name.  
  
And the Master smiled.   
  
“I think, whether he lies or not, he can be useful. We keep him and the girl, she’ll be an excellent leverage.”  
  
Rassilon grinned at him in a way that was almost affectionate, wouldn’t it be for the cold in his grey eyes.   
  
“I like the way you’re thinking.”  
  
“So you’ve said,” the Master smirked and turned his eyes away from the Doctor for the first time, aiming it at Rassilon. The Doctor didn’t even need to watch, he could hear the same cold in the other Time Lord’s voice, icy and spiking.  
  
Rassilon didn’t seem to notice.  
  
"My personal advisor," he explained to the Doctor with a cruel smile, then nodded towards some guards behind him. "Take him back to his cell."  
  
He was grabbed by his arms and then roughly shoved out of the room. He knew they were leading him back into his cell, back to Rose but the Doctor couldn’t resist turning around, throwing one last, intent glance back at the Master.  
  
He couldn’t help it. There was a Master without a Doctor in this universe and after all his time on his own, all this time he’s been the last of the Time Lords, all he could think about was, how wonderfully a Master without a Doctor fitted to a Doctor without a Master.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose was crying when he returned, so he drew her into a tight embrace, trying to calm her down. He felt his own body tremble but carefully locked away all his feelings, until it faded. All the guilt, the pain of seeing his people again, and seeing them like this, all his supressed hope the Master had created, all his fear and his rage.  
  
It was hilariously easy. In his time as the last of the Time Lords, the Doctor had perfected his shields, had perfected the art of repression.  
  
He smiley at her encouragingly. Rose couldn’t see the gesture, having her face buried at his chest, but it helped him, reminded him he had to be strong for her, gave him the impression that he was doing okay, as long as he could just manage to smile.  
  
He heard her sniffle while trying to calm down enough to speak.  
  
“What is happening, Doctor?” she asked, her voice broken.   
  
God, he had failed, her hadn’t he? Even for him, the memory of Mickey, dead on the ground, eyes empty, held some horror. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how Rose had to feel. “Are they really Time Lords?”  
  
He nodded, lost in a lot of dark thoughts, then sighed with a shudder.  
  
“Yes,” he finally said, realising Rose couldn’t see him nod. “Yes, they are. A darker, twisted version of them, though.”  
  
He thought back, to the war, to the plans Rassilon was making to defeat the Daleks. He sighed once more, feeling drained and tired.   
  
“Maybe not so much darker…”  
  
Rose slowly let go of him, trying to look him in the eyes and wiping away her tears.  
  
“We need to stop them, Doctor. Whatever they’re doing, it can’t be good. They… they… Mickey…”  
  
“I know,” he replied calmly. “I know, Rose.”  
  
But he didn’t know how.  
  
Silently, they sat beside each other. Rose had leant into him, quietly crying while all he could do was hold her and trying to drown out the cold feeling of guilt threatening to suffocate him.  
  
“Have you got a plan?” she asked after a while. Something had shifted, something had changed, he heard it in her voice. Cold and determined.  
  
A true fighter, he thought. What should’ve been a life full with wonder, adventure and beauty, it had turned her into a fighter with pure horror, pain and death. The universe had done to her what it had done to him.  
  
Oh God, he hated it.  
  
“Not exactly,” he replied. “But I’ll figure something out. I always do.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
He wondered if she could here the resign in his voice. He wondered if she knew how lost he was. He still wondered when he heard a door creak.  
  
Both of them looked up the second they heard it. Rose seemed to be frightened and determined not to show it at the same time.  
  
The Doctor stepped towards their cell door expectantly.  
  
Even before he had entered, he had known it had been the Master. He swallowed down nervously. There he stood, the intense glim still in his eyes, and a little smirk playing around his lips. Involuntary, the Doctor had to smile of the familiarity of this smirk. The Master could regenerate, be another version of himself and decompose alive, the smirk always stayed the same.  
  
“Hello Doctor.”  
  
Before he could react, Rose had grabbed his hand encouragingly.  
  
“You need to let us out,” she tried. “Now.”  
  
The Master rolled his eyes. “Can’t do,” he replied shortly.  
  
“What are they planning to do to us?” the Doctor wanted to know.  
  
With a sigh, the Master closed the door behind him. They were alone in the small, dark room now, just the three of them. The Master’s smirk was gone and he looked into the Doctor’s eyes more seriously now.  
  
“Nothing right now. I talked them into keeping you around because you might be useful. But let’s say… You’re going to get into some trouble if you don’t cooperate.”  
  
“Heard that once or twice in my life,” the Doctor muttered under his breath.  
  
His only answer was a raised eyebrow.   
  
“If I really don’t exist in this universe,” he finally asked. “If you don’t know me… then why are you helping us? What do you get out of it?”  
  
The Master grinned. “What, I can’t do the right thing without getting something out of it?”  
  
With crossed arms, the Doctor simply gave back, “No. Not you.”  
  
That made the other Time Lord laugh, a cold, haunting sound and the Doctor just knew it would still be stuck inside his mind, even after this man was long gone.  
  
“Let’s say, I don’t like where they’re going.”  
  
“You, not a fan of universal domination?” the Doctor smirked. “This really must be an alternate reality then.”  
  
The Master’s next laugh was something else. Quiet and roughly, a chuckle that for some reason seemed to be more honest. Instead of sending him shivers down the spine, it made the Doctor smile.  
  
“I do prefer universal domination if it’s my own.”  
  
“Oh I don’t know,” the Doctor retorted. “You seem to have worked yourself up to quite a good position, personal _advisor_.”  
  
The Master didn’t miss the Doctor’s sharp tone, but he let it go unmentioned.  
  
“I’ve got many enemies, Doctor. It seems some Time Lords can’t wait to get rid of me.”  
  
“Yes,” the Time Lord sighed. “I know that feeling.”  
  
The looked at each other quietly for some time. Rose had settled back into their corner, watching them with a curious expression on her face, but remaining silent for now. This seemed to be something she didn’t want to get between to, something bigger than her. The Doctor knew this threatening, strangely charming man and he talked to him like to an old acquaintance, while she was feeling waves of fear flooding her body whenever she looked into his cold face.  
  
But there was something else. She saw it while the Time Lord slid down the wall, sitting in front of the Doctor and waving impatiently for him to do the same. Something flashed up on his face, some kind of warmth, only for a second. She doubted the Doctor had even noticed, because he was busy sitting down again.  
  
“How did you get here?” the Master finally asked, a genuine tone in his voice. “Where do you come from?”  
  
For a second, the Doctor hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to trust the Master, he always did. But in the past, this had never been something he could exactly call a good idea.  
  
This wasn’t even his Master. Through all their fights, their battles, the wars and the threats, he had always known, when things got really nasty and serious, the Master would stand by his side. Like he had done in the Death Zone of Gallifrey, like he had on his trial against the Valeyard. But this was another Master, a Master who had never met him, never known him. He couldn’t expect him to stand with him for any other reason than his own gains.  
  
But then he closed his eyes and sighed. In this world, where everyone seemed against him, where he was confronted with constant reminders of what he had done to his people, where the only things familiar to him were Rose and this Master, he had no choice but to trust him, had he?  
  
“I honestly don’t know,” he explained with a calm voice. “I think… I think my TARDIS might’ve sensed another Time Lord presence and went for it. She was drained of all her powers before we even landed, but she got us here.”  
  
“That’s implying there’s no Time Lord in your universe she could dock onto.”  
  
It wasn’t even a question, just a cold observation. The Doctor was once more impressed by his old friend’s perception.  
  
“You’re right,” he replied, desperately hoping he wouldn’t probe any further, while knowing it was hopeless at the same time. “There isn’t.”  
  
This time, even the Doctor saw the flash of sympathy appearing on the Master’s face. He smiled bitterly.  
  
“There was a war,” he finally explained. “The Time War, they called it. Everyone died, Master. Everyone but me.”  
  
The Time Lord was openly shocked.  
  
“How?” he wanted to know. “What could wipe out all Time Lords in existence? The most powerful race in the universe?”  
  
Rose shivered when the Doctor spoke again, his voice hoarse and so terribly, terribly cold.  
  
“Me.”  



End file.
